Mayor Stack: 26,000 turkeys for Union City families
The Big Idea:
● Since he was just a teenager, Mayor Brian Stack of Union City has been giving away birds for Thanksgiving to help feed and enrich his community.
● But what started as a small effort with roughly 20 chickens, has expanded to a 26,000 turkey giveaway by the Brian P. Stack Civic Association to help feed the community during the holiday season.
● Turkeys are provided by a local farm in Pennsylvania (thanks to a 20-plus-year partnership with the city) and more than 500 eager volunteers of all ages gather annually to help spread the Thanksgiving cheer.
Background:
Union City is a food desert community, which means there are many hurdles to accessing healthy food for residents in the area. The Turkey giveaway is just one way that community leaders help provide fresh, local food to address this need.
In addition to the turkey giveaway, the Civic Association offers many other services - including helping people file taxes, fixing broken refrigerators, keeping the streets paved, and maintaining tree-lined sidewalks. Mayor Stack even offers his phone number to citizens to call him directly with their concerns.
By the Numbers:
The Civic Association raised $325,000 in 2019 alone to put on the annual donation event.
Their Take:
Mayor Brian Stack
● “This wouldn’t be possible without the people that lend a hand. I can’t thank them enough.
● “Our mayor is always going above and beyond, and his impact is clear when we gather like this.”
